Electric arc apparatus for producing chemical reactions



v. F. HANSON 2.167.976

Aug. 1, 1939.

ELECTRIC ARC APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CHEMICAL REACTIONS Filed Jan. 2, 1956 3 Sheets- Sheet 1 Flow A.C. Supply .3 Ph ase IN VEN TOR. V/czor" F #20500 A TTORNEY.

Aug. 1, 1939. v. F. HANSON ELECTRIC ARC APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CHEMICAL REACTIONS Filed Jan. 2, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Flow , INVENTOR. V/czor E Hanson A TTORNEY.

g- 1, 1939- I v. F. HANSON 2, 7,976

ELECTRIC ARC APPARATUS FOR PRODUCINIE CHEMICAL REACTIONS Filed Jan. 2, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I N VEN TOR. l lczor' F Hanson ATTORNEY.

.Pacemea Aug. 1, 1939 UNITED STATES ELECTRIC ARC APPARATUS FOR PRODUC- ING CHEMICAL REACTIONS Victor F. Hanson, to E. I. du Pont mington, Del., a

Niagara Falls, N. Y., assignor de Nemours & Company, Wilcorporation of Delaware Application January 2, 1936, Serial No. 57,170 2 Claims. (01. 20441)" This invention relates to the thermal decom position of liquid carbonaceous products such as hydrocarbon oils and the like by means of an electric arc submerged beneath the surface of 5 the liquid to produce useful products such as carbon-black and gaseous products and more particularly to an improved method and means for controlling the characteristics of the electric arc in such processes. f

The use of the electric arc for supplying extremely high localized temperatures for producing chemical reactions has been previously proposed in a number of patents. A great difliculty has always been experienced, when using the electric are for this purpose in a medium of high dielectric strength such as a hydrocarbon oil, in maintaining a steady are without the necessity of using extremely high voltages, thereby making it necessary to limit the current flow with induczo tive reactive equipment.

When the series reactor or its equivalent of a high leakage transformer or alternator is used in the arc circuit a very poor power factorresults (between and 40%) which must be im- :5 proved for commercial reasons by the use of power factor correction equipment. The improvement of the power factor is accomplished only at considerable expense in electrical equipment investment and the losses associated in 80 the operation thereof.

Another objection to this type of series reactive equipment is the difliculty of striking and establishing the arc in the medium of high dielectric strength when the arcing gap is suifici ently long for satisfactory operating conditions. This has necessitated the use of applied voltages of approximately 2-3 times the normal operating voltage, which necessitates the use of equipment of great size in comparison to the amount :10 of energy actually supplied to the arc.

For example, I have operated a three phase arcing unit for the production of carbon black .and hydrocarbon gas by submerged arc treatment of'a liquid hydrocarbon in which thecurren't flow 45 was limited by a three phase iron corereactance of the following characteristics:

Frequency'25'cycles, V Applied voltage 7000 volts per coil. j Current at 100% reactance; '22 amps-1'":

Kva; per phase, 154.- )7 if f M mmum' w r e n er a i w lldaximum power factor, 40%. I:

I have thus found that it is necessary touse 2.8 kva. of current limiting equipment per kw.

of useful arcing energy in the above mentioned unit. Since it is necessary to operate such a process at power factors approaching unity, it is 6 necessary to correct the lagging power factor resulting from the use of the inductance current limiting means by suitable power factor correction apparatus. This necessitates the use of approximately'2.5 kva, of correcting apparatus per kw. of power input to the arcs, making a total Y of 5.3 kva. of reactive and corrective electrical equipment per kw. power input to the arc, which involves such great expense that the use of this equipment is not commercially feasible.

In using such reactive current limiting means in series with an arc in a medium of high dielectric strength, there is a variation of arc voltage drop in the course of normal operation that alters the total impedance of the arc and reactance circuit resulting in variations of current flow of 25-30%.- For example, in the above mentioned three phase arcing system the arc voltage varies from 1000 to 4000 volts with current variations from 22 amperes to 16 amperes during normal operation. 7 r

I have found that this variation in arcing current is very detrimental in the production of a commercially marketable carbon black. In order to produce carbon black of a uniform particle size and a uniform rate of cure when compounded in rubber, I have discovered that it is necessary to limit the variation in arcing current to less than 4%. When using arcing apparatus in which the distortion of the arcs depend on rotation of the electrodes or the flow of liquid through the arcs, there exists a relationship between are distortion, arc current and product characteristics. I havefound it preferable from the standpoint of producing a uniform improved quality of product, to maintain uniform arc distortion, as determined by electrode speed or'oil flow rates and a substantially inva riablecurrent flow. The first may be accomplished by the use of constant speed motors, the latter by methods herein described.

' An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method forcarrying out chemical reactions in liquid media of high'dielectric strength by means of an electric arc submerged 50 in such media. A'further object is to provide means for' controlling the characteristics of an electric are operating submerged in a liquid of high dielectric strength and more specifically, to

provide means whereby s'uch submerged arc, for .65

. these products and 'liquid flows out through outlet 3.

example, one operating in a liquid hydrocarbon to produce decomposition products, may be operated with little or no variation in current flow. Other objects will be apparent from the following description of my invention.

The above objects are attained in accordance with the present invention by providing means for supplying to an electric arc submerged in a liquid of high dielectric strength a substantially constant current or a current which will not vary by more than 10%. I-have found that such nonvarying current can be supplied to such submerged arc by means of a resonant circuit which is composed of inductance and capacitance connected in series across applied constant voltage supply, said inductance and capacitance having substantially equal reactance at the supplied power frequency. In accordance with my invention, the above described type of resonantcircuit is adapted to supply current to the submerged electric arc, with an applied power frequency of about 25 to cycles.

The appended drawings are diagrammatic illustrations of different forms of my invention. Figs. 1 and 2 show the invention applied to single-arc systems, Fig. 3 illustrates a threephase system. with three arcs, Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate other systems with a plurality of arc gaps.

In order to overcome the above stated objections to the series reactive equipment which heretofore has been used for are control, I have found that the use of a combination of inductive and capacitive reactances consisting of equal reactance at the applied power supply frequency connected in the form known as the T resonating circuit shown in Fig. 1, or preferably in the form known as the monocyclic square shown in Fig. 2, for one or two phase power supply or of the polyphase resonant type shown in Fig. 3, used on a polyphase system provides a valuable improvement in the products and. results in improved operation of the equipment producing better control of the are.

I shall refer to these circuits herein as resonant circuits, since they are composed of inductances and condensers of equal reactance at the applied frequency of the constant voltage supply source and therefore will resonate on open arc circuits." In accordance with the present invention, the application of these circuits is limited to commercial frequencies from about 25 to 125 cycles per second.

Referring to the appended drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates diagrammatically a reaction vessel I, into which a liquid hydrocarbon flows through inlet 2, the products of reaction and undissociated Electrode 4, which may be moved with respect to the opposite electrode 5, by adjusting screw I3, which is electrically connected to vessel I. is insulated from vessel I, by insulation bushing 6, is connected to a self inductance coil I. Inductance coil 1, is connected to another inductance coil 8, preferably of the same characteristics as coil 1, and also to a condenser 9, at junction I5. Condenser 9 has substantially the same reactance as inductance coil 8 at the frequency of the supply source alternating current. The other terminal of the inductance coil 8, is connected to a transformer secondary I0, the other terminal of which is connected to the condenser 9, and the reaction vessel I. The primary of the transformer Ill--II is connected to the constant voltage supply. When the resistance of the arc circuit is high, the series resonant circuit of inductance 8, and condenser 9, supplies a higher po- Electrode 5, which tential at junction I5, thereby keeping the current flowing in the inductance 1, and the are substantially constant.

Fig. 2 illustrates a preferred form of my invention. The reaction vessel I, which is similar to that of Fig. 1 is provided with inlet 2, outlet 3, adjustable electrode 4, with adjusting means I3, and stationary electrode 5, passing through bushing 6. Electrode sisting of two self inductance coils I4, and two condensers I2 of substantially equal reactance at the frequency of the supply voltage. These condensers and inductances are arranged in the form of a square with the inductances I4 on opposite sides of the square and the condensers I2 on the other two sides, opposite each other. The arcing electrodes 4 and 5 are connected across one diagonal of the square and the transformer secondary I0, is connected across the opposite diagonal. The primary II of the transformer is connected to a constant voltage alternating current supply source.

Fig. 4 illustrates an arrangement similar to that of Fig. 2, connected to a two-phase source of alternating current supplied. The metal re action vessel I, is provided with adjustable arcing electrode 4, connected to the vessel I, electrode adjusting means I3, inlet pipe 2, outlet pipe 3, and stationary electrode 5, insulated from vessel I, by bushing 6. Vessel I, preferably is grounded. Electrode 5 is connected to the squared system of inductances I4, and condensers I2, in the same manner as in Fig. 2. The corner of the square diagonally opposite the connection to electrode 5, is connected in series with one secondary III, of a two-phase transformer and the reaction vessel I. The other two corners of the square are connected with the other secondary Illa of the two-phase transformer. The transformer primaries I0 and Illa are connected to a source of alternating current supply. This arrangement supplies constant current to the arc, regardless of load conditions and distributes the load equally on the two-phases under optimum operating conditions.

Fig. 3 illustrates a preferred polyphase arcing system consisting of reaction vessel I, liquid supply pipe 2, outlet pipe 3, three electrodes 4, which are all of the same potential and are connected to vessel I, which preferably is grounded. Electrodes 5, are insulated from vessel I, by lead in bushings 6. Each electrode 5, is connected to a junction I5 between an inductance I4 and a condenser I2, which have substantially equal reactance at the frequency of the constant voltage supply source, and in turn are connected across the secondary ll of a polyphase transformer. Secondary I1 is energized by primary I8 of the transformer. The circuit is completed through electrodes 4.

Fig. 5 illustrates a reaction chamber I, with liquid supply pipe 2, and outlet pipe 3, a plurality of grounded electrodes 4. a plurality of electrodes 5, insulated by lead in bushings 6, a means I9 for indicating current flow (e. g., ammeter) connected to each electrode 5, and a resonant constant current supply circuit similar to that shown in Fig. 2. Arcing gap lengths are so disposed that one or more are gaps are set for normal safe are operating voltage; these may be termed operating gaps. One or more other gaps may be used as emergency gaps by setting them for the maximum safe voltage. The emergency gaps then will are only when the voltage across the operating gaps becomes abnormally high. for example if an electrode be- 5, is connected to a system con-.

comes broken or burned away. By. reference'to the current indicating means, the operator may determine in which operating gap" circuit the current is no longer flowing and then may restore that gap to operation by suitably adjusting or renewing the electrodes.

Fig. 6 illustrates an apparatus similar to that of Fig. 5, except that the emergency gap 4a has in its-circuit a means 2! of energizing the trip 522, of a circuit breaker 23 which is placed in the ,constant voltage supply circuit. In this case, the circuit is broken when current flows through the emergency gap 4a. fIt'should be noted that. while it is preferable that one of the'two arcing electrodes be con- ;nected"to"ground,--this is "not essential to the operation of the process. Instead of being connected to the metal reaction vessel, this electrode may be insulated from said vessel and the return circuits brought through the shell by means of -another insulator bushing. Fig.7 illustrates a reaction vessel I, into which a hydrocarbon on other liquid undergoing pyrolysis flows through pipe 2, products of reaction and undissociated liquid being 'withdrawn -through pipe 3. Arcing electrodes 4, and 5 are I connected to the secondary 1, of a constant current transformer, electrode 5, being insulated from reaction vessel 5, by bushing 6. The constant current transformer consists of an iron core 9, secondary coil 1, and a. movable primary coil 8, which is counter-balanced by weight l2, in such a manner that coil 8, moves with respect to I, automatically under varying load conditions to maintain a substantially constant current in the arc. Primary coil 8, is connected with a source I of constant voltage alternating current 'supply Ill-II.

Fig. 8 illustrates a similar reaction vessel to that in Fig. 7. except that the constant current to the arcing electrodes 4, and 5, is supplied by a constant current reactor consisting of an iron core'9, and a fixed coil I, connected in series with a coil 8, movable with respect to 1, counterbalanced by weight l2, in such manner as to maintain constant current under varying load conditions. Said coil 8, is connected to a transformer secondary III, which in turn is connected to electrode 4, to complete the circuit. Primary ll, of the transformer is connected to a constant voltage alternating current supply.

I have found that in normal operation of these types of resonant currents when applied to an 5.3 kva. of apparatus at the same power factor.

Ihave also discovered that by the use of such resonant circuits a much more stable arcing" condition is obtained, since in open arc circuits.-

the inductance and condenser, which are then in series across a constant potential alternating in the dielectric and establishing the arc. Thus the high open circuit voltage developed is of very great importance in maintaining a steady arc in such, arcing medium. 1

I have found that a greatly improved control of the quality of the product is obtained in using this type of circuit on an arcing apparatus for the production of chemical reactions producing carbon black, hydrocarbon gas and hydrogen from a liquid hydrocarbon. The range of size of the carbon black particles is greatly reduced, thereby'improving the quality of the product for use as a rubber reinforcing agent-and as a pigment for inky paints, and other well known applications where carbon black is used. A hy-. drocarbongas of controlled ratio of acetylene to hydrogen can also be thus obtained. Another means of supplying a source of constant current is by the use of a so-called constant current transformer or a constant current reactor in which one of two windings is movable with respect to the other, being so disposed as to autov.matically move apart with decreasing loadimpedence and move toward each other on increasing load impedance, thereby maintaining a constant current in the arc circuit. While this means supplies a satisfactory constantcurrent regulation, it does not have the high open arc circuit voltage necessary to maintain a steady arc in a medium of high dielectric strength.

Since the resonant circuits of my invention tend to supply a constant current regardless of load conditions, I have found that dangerous voltages may develop when electrodes break off and the arcing gap is much greater than that used in normal operation. In order to protect the electrical equipment from damage due to excessive voltages which may develop under such abnormal circumstances, I prefer to employ a protective means consisting of auxiliary arcing gaps With in the reaction chamber which will arc over, precluding the development of unsafe voltages and thereby protecting the electrical insulation without any loss in power that would otherwise occur are gap' submerged in a "llqtlld 'dielectricfi 'fie such protective device current flowing through the arcs can be main f' system is one in which the plurality of arcs are value, regardless of the arcing gap length and are voltage, compared to a variation when using other' known types of current "limiting means with an arc in a medium of high dielectric strength. The overall power factor also is improved to valuesclosely approaching unity by means of my invention, thereby affecting substantial reductions in equipment losses and im- "pmving the yield 'of"product"per unit 'of electrical energy consumed.

While theoretically it is possible to obtain 1 kw. of power input to the arc per 1.15 kva. of reactive equipment in using the circuit shown by Fig. 3, I have found that it is preferable to operate the arcs at slightly lower voltage than the theoretical maximum, giving apparatus utility of approximately 1.5 kva. per kw. of power input with a power factor of 85% to 90% .as compared to a system using the series reactance with power factor correction apparatus requiring A preferred arrangement for use on a multi arc either all in one reaction chamber as shown in .Figs. 3, 5, and 6, or one in which there is a single arc in each of a number of reaction chambers.

My invention is applicable to any of the various types of electrode arrangements used in a medium of high dielectric strength such as the rotating type of electrodes, hollow electrodes through which the liquid hydrocarbon flows into the arcing gap, or stationary types as shown in the ap-- pended drawings.

I claim:

1. In an arcing reaction chamber for producing chemical reactions, a polyphase arcing unit consisting of a plurality of pairs of electrodes mounted at such a level as to be submerged in a carbonaceous liquid. one of each pair of which is connected to a common point of inductive and capacitive reactances in resonance at the applied alternating current frequency, which rerent supply source connected to a pair of electrodes mounted at such a level as to be submerged in a carbonaceous liquid and consisting of a resonant circuit composed of inductance and capacitance connected in series across a source of constant voltage, alternating power supply, said inductance and capacitance having substantially equal reactanceat the frequency of said alternating power supply.

VICTOR F. HANSON. 

